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Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Quackery

The “big idea” behind integrative medicine is not so big at all…

I’ve frequently referred to “integrative medicine” as the “integration” of quackery with conventional, science-based medicine for the very good reason that that’s what it really is. However, advocates of medicine not based in science are nothing if not masters of marketing, which is how, over the course of three decades or so, “alternative medicine” morphed […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Quackery expands in the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

I’ve been writing about this topic so long—ever since the very beginning of this blog—that it seems as though I’ve always been doing it even though this blog has been in existence only 11 years and I didn’t really come to appreciate the problem until after I had started this blog. No, I’m not referring […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The difference between being antivaccine and “pro-safe vaccine,” explained using J.B. Handley

One of the most frequent complaints leveled at pro-science advocates who defend vaccines against antivaccine misinformation and pseudoscience is that we’re way too fast to label them as “antivaccine,” that we use the term as a convenient label to demonize their views. We’re not really antivaccine, they tell us. We’re vaccine safety advocates. Really. Now, […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Biology Cancer Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

John Oliver teaches us how to interpret medical and scientific studies

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of John Oliver. When my aging body allows me to stay awake late enough on Sunday nights and there’s a new episode on, I’ll almost always be watching. Since starting his own show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on HBO, Oliver’s become quite the expert at […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

The Republican Party is on the verge of nominating has made an antivaccine loon named Donald Trump its presumptive nominee

[Note: Since this was written, Donald Trump won Indiana and Ted Cruz has suspended his campaign. This is why I changed the title of this post on Tuesday night. Meet your presumptive nominee, Republicans.] I haven’t written anything about Donald Trump and vaccines in a while. When last I did write about him, I enumerated […]